2 hearings for me this week....PIA

[BrokeinMD]

Just wanted to vent where I'm at....60 Day Club may or may not end 2/4/11. My Trustee hasn't posted anything on PACER. I have a re-affirm for my car loan (required in MD) on 1/27, followed by a Relief of Automatic Stay Request for my PNC 1st Morgage on 1/31. My Lawyer prepped me for the car re-affirm as I posted earlier. He told me to show up, say I can cut my expenses to do it, he'll argue against me and win. He said the judge will side with him, the debt will still be discharged, and I get to keep my car just because I made the effort to reaffirm. I'm fine with that.

The PNC Mortgage Relief of Stay Hearing is irritating my nerves. I got it current, but this hearing is still scheduled. Their attorney said he hasn't even heard from them to drop it, so it's still on the docket. Since I'm now current, do I even need to go to this? Will they foreclose when I'm current? It's a 3 hour drive for me to get to the BK Court. Since they're jerking around their own attorney, and I'm current, what do you think it will do to me if I go AWOL? Will they try to foreclose on a current loan? Anyone ever go through this? I'm going to ask my attorney when I see him at the re-affirm hearing on 1/27, but just wanted to see if you guys went through this. Thanks for letting me vent.

[tcreegan]

Hi BrokeinMD,

The motion for relief of stay seems to be a knee-jerk response from lenders. If you don't show, the judge grants the motion. But if you are current and stay current, it shouldn't make a difference.

Hang in there!

Tom in Colo

ps: re-affirm for my car loan (required in MD) ..not a MD thing, required by new BK law, all courts, if you plan to keep the car. But not required by all lenders...for some the only thing they care about is the payments coming in on time. And remember that reaffirmations are always optional, you have 60 days to rescind them.

[BrokeinMD]

Thanks for your reply, Tom. I read elsewhere it was a MD thing, didn't know it was the US law. My car loan is Suntrust. I've seen others on here talking about them. It must definitely be a Suntrust thing.

I'm hanging, by a thread, and whatever happy pill I can find crawling on the floor after a drunken stupor! The anxiety drives me nuts as I get closer to the end! I think my head is going to POP off my shoulders on my discharge date! LOL!!!

[csonly]

BrokeInMD - I also had a hearing for relief of automatic stay. My attorney said not to attend, so I didn't. The stay will be lifted when the BK is discharged anyway. The relief of automatic stay was granted in my case, but no big deal, just keep your payments current. You may also owe PNC attorney fees, filing fees, etc. Talk about kicking you when your down!!!

[BrokeinMD]

Thanks, CSOnly, that's encouraging. I paid all what they claimed were the arrears in their filing, and have even guesstimated and paid my February payment, since they are exempt from providing me an escrow analysis while in BK. Found that out on the FDIC.gov website, under Sec.3500.17(i), (m), etc. The interesting thing about looking that up was it doesn't mention how many days after your discharge that they have to provide you your escrow analysis. So, with no statement, and me throwing money at them without knowing what I'm supposed to be paying them, I guess I'll get a big fat bill from them one day to catch up! Yes, my rear is raw from all this kicking!!!

[csonly]

I was able to get into my mortgage account and see any payments due, escrow, additional attorney fees, late fees, you name it, but I had to call to make payments, use my bill pay from my bank or send a check. I chose to make payments over the phone, which they charge you for (kick again). They also would not post any of my payments until their attorney gave them the okay, which took probably a month. I would watch my account, could see that they received my payment(s), but they would not actually post it, so my amount due was like a few months of payments, even though they had my money. Once the stay was lifted, a few weeks after that, I gained the access to pay from their website and I am now receiving statements again. If you plan to stay and pay, I would call them and get your payment amount. In some states though, they require that contact has to go through your attorney. I'm not sure what states they are, but I remember when I would call and get the prompts, one of them were if you live in the state of ?????, they have to go through your attorney. But again, I would call and talk to them (if you can) to get exact amounts, ask them if your payments are being posted to your account. Again, I personally wouldn't drive 3 hours for a hearing, as they will probably lift the stay anyway. I doubt that the mortgage company's attorney will drop the motion either. Let it ride, stay current and from what I understand, they can't foreclose if you are current on your payments. They want your money, not your house or car. BTW, when I called my mortgage co last week to ask a general question, I asked for the BK dept, and they said I no longer had to ask for that dept, that any rep would be able to help me, so I took that as a good sign.

[BrokeinMD]

Prior to BK, I signed up for online statement access. Post BK, they took my rights away. I pay them now right at the branch up the street from my house. I can only see online that the payments are posted, but they're not applying it to my interest or escrow. Here's the fun part with PNC. I went to the Branch Manager and caught up my arrears, and asked her to get the Bankruptcy department on the line to see if they were now happy. She had to call the main customer line, who transferred me to the BK Dept., and she and I sat in her office for 15+ minutes on hold. She didn't even have a direct access number for them! So, I pay my money, and those payslips are my golden treasure right now.

[csonly]

You would think the manager would have the BK dept direct number, heck, I even had it. Being on hold that long doesn't surprise me, I experienced the same thing...just goes to show how busy all BK depts are right now. I think that after the stay is lifted you will see your payments posted correctly. I would watch your account closely and guard those "golden tickets." What did your attorney say about attending the hearing for your mortgage stay to be lifted? Just curious.

[BrokeinMD]

I just emailed him and asked him, "hypothetically, if I don't show up, and the stay is lifted, can they foreclose when I'm current?" I'll post his reply when I get it.

[BrokeinMD]

Also, I think I'll sew the payslips together and make underwear out of them! That way, they'll be in a safe place! LOL!

[BrokeinMD]

My attorney advised if the stay is lifted it gives them the right to foreclose. However, all defenses to the actual foreclosure, including that I made the payments, will be available to me in State Court. He advised if I'm not going to attend to let him know and he'll withdraw our opposition, but he'll do it in the 11th hour to see if PNC's attorney will withdraw first.

Now, since we have snow here in MD, my car re-affirm hearing has been pushed out for two weeks. After my discharge date. So I just asked him if that's going to push out my discharge date and he said it shouldn't. Ay,yi, yi! What a day!

[csonly]

I'm curious if he wants you to attend the hearing or not for lift of auto stay? Since he already opposed, does he think it would NOT get lifted at the hearing? As I said, my attorney said to do nothing, as after discharge, that protection goes away anyway. The mortgage attorney never withdrew even though we were current, but your case may be different. I think the big questions are ...... Can the bank foreclose? I would say yes if you don't keep current. Will the bank foreclose if you DO stay current, probably not. Hopefully others in this forum can chime in, as I'm a newbie and certainly no expert, just speaking from my experience with this issue. I like the underwear idea, but don't wash them, then you may have problems.....LOL!!! Keep us posted.

[BrokeinMD]

He said it was up to me, and that it didn't make a difference. If they want to foreclose, they could either do it Monday, if they were granted the lift at the hearing, or after I received my discharge, which is probably coming up in the next week. He said they could proceed with foreclosure if they were denied, too, at the Monday hearing. There's no guarantee, even though I'm current. Since the Lift Hearing didn't guarantee me prevention of foreclosure, I told him that I'm happy with him withdrawing. He said he will, if they don't withdraw their motion first by Friday, and that he'll represent me in State Court if they go ahead and proceed with foreclosure even with me being current. Only the Bank can tell me if they want to still try to foreclose, but their own attorney has been having trouble getting hold of them, too. So, if I receive foreclosure papers, I have to go to state court, and my attorney said above that I have the appropriate defenses, i.e. Proof of payment being current, to have it squashed. They'll waste their money, but if that's what they want to do, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Is it Happy Hour yet? I want to wear my payment panties on my head. LOL!!!!

[csonly]

LOL, that is too funny....get those payment panties ready!!!! I think you have to consistently not pay your mortgage before they can begin the foreclosure proceedings and if they do it sooner, I think your lawyer could make them wear those payment panties on their head!!! In all seriousness (I'm really trying but I'm laughing so hard), I don't think there is anything to worry about, just keep current.

[BrokeinMD]

I was behind, but I got it current CS, that's why they filed their papers. Thanks for your concern, and I'll post updates if they slam me with the foreclosure papers. Til then, I'm going to go photocopy my payment slips, saran wrap them, and make a couple of payment panties, or maybe I'll bypass the saran wrap and use duct tape. Maybe my attorney will wear it in my honor, too! Oh, god, what a day...LOL